Shelley Mathew Malil () is a former Indian-American actor and convicted felon. Malil emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1974. He appeared in a number of television shows and films, including ''

The 40-Year-Old Virgin ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Judd Apatow (in his feature directorial debut), who produced the film with Clayton Townsend and Shauna Robertson. It features Steve Carell as the titular 40-y ...

'' (2005). In 2010, Malil was convicted of attempted premeditated murder and assault with a deadly weapon on a former girlfriend, and served 8 years of a 12-year-to-life term at Ironwood State Prison in southern California.

Early life

Malil was born in

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He immigrated with his family in 1974 to the United States at the age of 11. He started acting in high school. As a child, he had hoped to become a comedic actor like

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

, whom he had first seen on television. In summer 1983, aged 18, he performed on stage as part of the summer stock company at the Granbury Opera House in

Granbury, Texas Granbury is a city in and the county seat of Hood County, Texas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 10,958, and it is the principal city of the Granbury micropolitan statistical area. Granbury is named after Con ...

Acting career

Malil came to Hollywood in 1995, after a two-year stint at New York's

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a Private college, private drama school with two locations, one in New York City and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related ...

. He had supporting roles in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin'' (2005), ''

Holes A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...

'' (2003), ''

Collateral Damage "Collateral damage" is a term for any incidental and undesired death, injury or other damage inflicted, especially on civilians, as the result of an activity. Originally coined to describe military operations, it is now also used in non-milit ...

'' (2002), '' Getting There'' (2002), ''Boys From Madrid'' (2000), ''

My Favorite Martian ''My Favorite Martian'' is an American sitcom that aired on CBS from September 29, 1963, to May 1, 1966, for 107 episodes. The show stars Ray Walston as "Uncle Martin" (the Martian) and Bill Bixby as Tim O'Hara. ''My Favorite Martian'' was th ...

'' (1999), ''

Columbus Day Columbus Day is a national holiday in many countries of the Americas and elsewhere, and a federal holiday in the United States, which officially celebrates the anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas. He went ashore at ...

'' (2008), and ''Just Can't Get Enough'' (2002). Malil had roles on television shows such as '' Scrubs'', '' Reba'', ''

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble ca ...

'', ''

The West Wing ''The West Wing'' is an American political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the West Wing of the White House, where t ...

'', ''

The Jamie Foxx Show ''The Jamie Foxx Show'' is an American television sitcom created by Jamie Foxx and Bentley Kyle Evans for The WB. It premiered on August 28, 1996, and ended on January 14, 2001, with a total of 100 episodes over the course of five seasons. A ...

'', and '' ER''. He was selected as one of the "Top 10 Overlooked Performances of 2005" by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

for his performance in ''The 40-Year-Old Virgin''. He is the recipient of a

Clio Award The Clio Awards, also simply known as The Clios, is an annual award program that recognizes innovation and creative excellence in advertising, design, and communication, as judged by an international panel of advertising professionals. The awar ...

(for the

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

beer commercials) and a Los Angeles Ovation Award as Best Featured Actor for his performance as Bottom in ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'', and he was nominated for the Los Angeles

Ovation Award The Ovation Awards were a Southern California award for excellence in theatre, established in 1989. They were given out by the non-profit arts service organization LA Stage Alliance and are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Win ...

for his performance in ''

SubUrbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

''.

Attempted murder conviction

On August 10, 2008, Malil stabbed his ex-girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, 23 times in

San Marcos, California San Marcos ( ; Spanish for " St. Mark") is a city in the North County region of San Diego County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 94,833. It is the site of California State University San Marcos and ...

. He was arrested the next day as he got off a train in

Oceanside, California Oceanside is a beach city in the North County (San Diego area), North County area of San Diego County, California, United States. The city had a population of 174,068 at the 2020 United States census, making it the most populous city in the Nort ...

. Beebe had survived the attack despite a severe cut to her chin, the collapse of both lungs, and the loss of about half the blood in her body. In September 2010, he was convicted of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon. and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

with the possibility of parole after 12 years. He was paroled four years early in September 2018.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Malil, Shelley 1964 births Living people Male actors from California American people convicted of assault American people convicted of attempted murder Indian emigrants to the United States American people of Malayali descent People paroled from life sentence Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors American male actors of Indian descent Naturalized citizens of the United States 21st-century Indian criminals